A few days on and Tampergate is now all out in the open. Sure enough, and true to form, the Boy from Matraville was at the heart of it all and now we have the unedifying image of Steve Smith blubbing away. In fairness, I think I would be blubbing at all the wonga and status that has suddenly gone west as a result of all this, what with losing the captaincy of the Australian Cricket Team, a lucrative CA contract not to mention the riches of the IPL and Lord knows how many sponsorship deals. North of OZ $4 Million I reckon. Yep, I would be crying buckets. Oddly enough, I suspect that Warner will cope with it a lot better, though whether Candice will want him under her feet all the time is another matter! Anyway, plenty of time for nipping off to Randwick Races.
Less edifying is the fact that young Bancroft was given a sentence almost as severe as the other two but one of the most unattractive images of the whole affair was the BBC’s Dan Roan’s gauche attempts to “doorstep” the protagonists as they left their hotel for their team bus. I have no idea what he thought he would achieve with his moronic questions apart perhaps from goading someone into flooring him, which, upon mature reflection, he might have come to realise, he richly deserved. He looked such a prat.
Meanwhile, all the Has Beans and Never Wozzas continue to chip in with their penny’s worth. Given that ball tampering will continue unabated in more subtle forms until the end of time, it is all getting very tedious. Nice to see Stuart Broad adding his thoughts – personally, I regarding blatantly not walking as a far more heinous crime and if my memory serves me well, he has paid no little attention to the state of a cricket ball in the past. Besides, his thoughts might be better addressed to trying to take 20 NZ wickets in the forthcoming Test at the wonderful Hagley Oval as his career tails off.
SW
Sticky Wicket 